Unconventional Associates
by cein
Summary: Two solitary souls make an unexpected couple. (Matthew/Alice) Spoilers for S5


Title: Unconventional associates  
Fandom: The Doctor Blake Mysteries  
Author: Ceindreadh  
Type of Story: one-shot  
Characters: Matthew Lawson, Alice Harvey  
Rating: 15  
Spoilers: Up to and including S5 ep 4  
Summary: Two solitary souls make an unexpected couple  
Word count: ~ 1,100  
Disclaimer. I don't own the characters, I'm only borrowing them, and no copyright infringement is intended. 

* * *

Matthew knocked on the door to the morgue before pushing it open. He smiled involuntarily as he saw Doctor Alice Harvey bent over a microscope, intent on her work. Clearing his throat, he waited for her to respond.

"You should ask Lucien to prescribe you something for that," said Alice as she adjusted the focus. "It sounds nasty." Lifting her head from the eyepiece, she made a note on the paper beside her. She added the time and then frowned, "You're early."

"Yes," said Matthew, "Got my paperwork seen to earlier than expected."

"Hmm, well you'll have to wait until I've finished analysing these slides," said Alice. She changed the slide under the microscope and bent her head over it again. "There's a chair in the corner. Sit down and don't distract me."

"Yes Doc," said Matthew, a smile on his face as he made his way to the chair and sat down, grimacing slightly as he did so.  
He hadn't been entirely honest with Alice. While he had indeed seen to all the paperwork that had been required for that day, he knew that he could easily have filled in the time until the appointed hour with more paperwork. Part and parcel of running a station, there was always a report to write, a requisition to complete. And manys the time that he'd stayed late at the station because quite simply, there was no reason to rush home.  
But all that had changed when Lucien and Jean had welcomed him to their home. Oh he still worked more hours than was good for him, but he was starting to delegate a bit more. That evening before he'd left the station, he had handed Davis a sheaf of forms to complete. He'd justified it on the grounds that Davis needed to be trained up in all aspects of running a station, no matter how mundane, if he wanted to be considered as a potential replacement. But the real reason was that quite simply, Matthew hadn't wanted to wait any longer to see Alice.

It had all started only a few weeks earlier. Lucien had invited Alice and Rose for dinner and had done a reading from Patricia Neville's book, which reputedly insulted half the town and had enough detail in it to almost put a man off his dinner. Afterwards, Jean had enlisted Lucien to help her clear the table, Charlie and Rose had disappeared to do whatever young folk did of an evening, and Matthew had found himself left to make conversation with Alice as she'd thumbed through the book, reading the occasional passage out loud as they both tried to figure out which member of the Ballarat community was feeling the sting of Patricia's pen.

It hadn't been until several days later that Matthew had started to wonder if there had been a bit of deliberate matchmaking going on, but that night, all that concerned them was the book. Alice had likened it to a jigsaw puzzle with no picture, they'd discovered a common interest in quizzes and by the time Jean and Lucien had returned with the tea tray, they were halfway through the crossword in the Ballarat Courier.

The next day, Alice had delivered an autopsy report to the police station, and Matthew, acting on an uncharacteristic impulse had asked if she'd like to attend the next live broadcast of the local station's quiz show. It was difficult to say which of them had been more surprized when Alice had accepted.

Since then, they had spent a few evenings together. At the quiz show, at a local lecture, and tonight they were going to the cinema. Matthew just hoped that the seats would be more comfortable than the chair he was currently on. He shifted his weight on the chair, grimacing slightly. Lucien's exercises might be working in terms of increasing his stamina – and he could certainly stand with a little less discomfort than when he'd started them – but he still found it painful to move from standing to sitting and back again. Still, he thought, it was a long way from where he'd been six months earlier, discharged from hospital, on sick leave from the force, and feeling that his life might as well have been over.  
Matthew found his gaze drawn to the empty autopsy table in front of him. "Could have been me," he thought, an involuntary shudder running though his body. "We should amputate…septic…" "no, we reset the leg…fix the artery…Matthew, this is going to hurt like hell…"

"Matthew?" the voice cut through his memories, and Matthew looked up to see Alice watching him from across the room. "Sorry Alice, what did you say?"

"I said that I've only two more slides to do," said Alice watching him, curiously. "You were a million miles away."

"I was just thinking," said Matthew, slowly, "About the accident…just over six months ago, I was flat on my back, the pain was so bad, I thought I was a goner for sure…that the next thing I was going to be lying on that table there, with you and Lucien tossing a coin to see who'd get to cut me open."

"That would never have happened," said Alice firmly.

"Oh, I know you'd never be that disrespectful to a body…"

"That's not what I meant," said Alice, "If you *had* ended up on that table, there's no way that I would have allowed Lucien to take any part in performing your autopsy. Nobody should have to do that for someone that they care about."

"That's…strangely comforting," said Matthew.

Alice turned her attention back to her slides, "Of course," she added offhandedly, "If it were to happen now, I'd probably have to recuse myself as well."

There was a sharp intake of breath from behind her, and Alice raised her head, looking at the wall in front of her as she replayed the words in her mind.

"Do you mean that?" asked Matthew, cautiously.

"Yes," said Alice, nodding slightly, "I…believe that I do." She turned the wheel but couldn't seem to bring the slide into focus properly. Behind her she heard footsteps approaching slowly until a figure appeared in her peripheral vision.

"Just so you know," said Matthew, softly, "The feeling is most definitely mutual." His free hand reached out, gently brushing against hers. Alice took his hand and squeezed it gently before releasing it.  
"Well…I'm glad we got that sorted out." Taking a deep breath, Alice added, "Now sit down and don't distract me again or I'll never get this finished."

"Yes Doc," said Matthew happily as he sat back down. "Anything you say."

* * *

The End 


End file.
